Freed Assyrian hostage says over 200 captured Christians were forced to convert to Islam

Two of  the Assyrian hostages who were freed from over 200 captured Christian have narrated their ordeal after Islamic State militants had raided their villages and abducted them in February.

The freed hostages claim ISIS militants tried to force them to convert to Islam, but the captives boldly refused.

On Feb. 23, the terrorist group raided approximately 35 different Christian villages in the Hasakah province and abducted somewhere between 263 to 373 men, women and children, according to the Assyrian International News Agency. But about a week after the raids, ISIS released a handful of hostages on March 1.

The Christian Post reports that a released hostage going by the name of "Robert" told reporters that he was abducted from his village of Tel Goran, which is on the south bank of the Khabur River, along with 16 other men and four women. He recalls the militants storming into his village at around 5 a.m., knocking on all the doors and waking everybody up.

He explained that the terrorists corralled everybody who was left in the village and placed them all into a small room, where they waited until the fighting subsided between the ISIS fighters and the Kurdish forces, who were stationed on the north side of the river.

Robert further explained that the fighting subsided about three hours after being placed in the room, and said the militants got upset when the local church's bell rang in the quiet of the night. Then, the Assyrian captives were transported to the Abdul Aziz Mountain, where they were placed into two rooms and spent the night.

While staying at the mountain, Robert recalls that the first thing the militants did was demand that the hostages convert to Islam.

"They asked us to convert to Islam. … Yes, that was their [first] idea that we should convert to Islam," Robert said. "Many bearded people spoke to us, and everyone asked us to convert to Islam."

When asked about how many militants had spoken to them about conversion, Robert replied, "very many, everyone spoke to us who saw us."

After spending the night in the house at Abdul Aziz Mountain, Robert said he and the rest of the hostages were driven about four hours north in the mountains. When they arrived, the hostages were placed into two different homes where they remained for five days until they were released.

Although they were in a new location, the militants' goal was still to get the hostages to convert to Islam.

"They kept pressuring us to convert to Islam. It was their constant focus. But we were not mistreated." Robert continued. "We said we would not convert. They said you must then pay the jizya [a Christian poll tax] or leave the country. That was the option given to us. We said we would pay the jizya but we would not convert."

Although the hostages were told they would have to pay, Robert said the militants uncharacteristically released them without forcing them to pay the tax.

"They said this time they would not collect the jizya because we had not fought against them. They said that they would release use on one condition — that we not return to our village," Robert added. "They said if we returned and they captured us again they would kill us without any other option; they would behead the men and enslave the women."

Even though the ISIS fighters continuously tried to get the Christians to convert, Robert said he and the rest of the hostages were not roughed up or cruelly treated and were even given everything they needed.

"We were provided with all necessities — food, water, bathing facilities. They brought us everything," Robert asserted.